Mary Eliza Mahoney (1845-1926).
Although many Black women nursed before her, Mary Eliza Mahoney (1845-1926) holds the distinction of being the first licensed Black nurse.
Born to freed enslaved people, Mahoney aspired to become a nurse as a teenager. To gain experience, she worked at the New England Hospital for Women and Children as a janitor, cook, washer woman and nurse’s aide.
When the hospital opened a nursing program in 1878, she enrolled at the age of 33. She was one of just four in the class of 42 who could pass the 16-month program’s rigorous requirements.
Mahoney spent her career standing up to racism, calling attention to nursing education inequalities and championing women’s rights. In 1908, she was a co-founder of the National Association of Colored Graduate Nurses, which merged with the American Nurses Association in 1951.
